On the heels of Walmart's decision to acquire 13 Target locations in Canada comes an announcement from Lowe's, which has also decided to acquire 13 Target Canada leases as well as distribution center in MIlton.

Sears Holdings continues to lose money –- lots of it –- and same store sales declined again during the holidays, but the severity of the company’s losses have diminished, which has Chairman and CEO Edward Lampert believing further improvement is coming as the company transforms to what he calls “a leading integrated membership-focused company.”

As Lowe’s prepares to open its previously announced 25 new stores in Canada during the next three years, speculation is mounting that the retailer could snap up some of Target's locations when the company withdraws from the Canadian market later this year.

Target opened its experimental Express format on July 23 in a community near downtown Minneapolis designed to give the retailer an early indication of expansion potential for the 20,000-sq.-ft. concept.

Target continues to make leadership changes in the U.S. and Canada following Gregg Steinhafel’s ousting from the company in an effort to drive U.S. traffic and sales, improve its ailing Canadian operations and advance its ongoing digital transformation.

Dollarama has appointed Johanne Choinière as chief operating officer, effective May 12. Choinière will be responsible for overseeing retail store operations as well as logistics, distribution and supply chain management.

Target plans to carry on its Canadian expansion this year with nine additional stores, the majority of which will open in Ontario, although the retailer plans to open single stores in Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta and B.C.

Adverse weather conditions as well as power outages in some of Dollarama’s core markets throughout December 2013 resulted in a significant reduction in store traffic and the temporary closure of approximately 80 stores, for periods ranging from a few hours to two consecutive days. The majority of the impacted days occurred during the two weekends leading up to Dec. 25.

Canadian dollar-store operator Dollarama reported an increase in sales and an improvement in net earnings for the third quarter ended Nov. 3. The quarter was characterized by continued growth in the store network and solid comparable store sales growth.

Target is getting ready for the holidays with a big multichannel push that includes expanding its in-store pick-up program for products ordered online to all of its U.S. stores by Nov. 1 — a service that is now available in about half of the chain’s locations.

Dollarama has opened 93 net new stores in the past 12 months, including 22 during the second quarter ended Aug. 4, for a total of 828. This accelerated growth helped drive sales for the quarter, which increased 16% to $511.3 million from $441.0 million in the prior-year quarter.

INSIGHTS

ECRM compared retail circular advertising in May 2015 vs. May 2014 and noted...

SPECIAL REPORTS

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